Considering how busy Banff National Park is throughout the summer, I couldn’t believe how empty the trail was to Hector Lake. The idea that tourists are all overcrowding the same spots holds some truth because on my long weekend trip to visit Kristine, she took me to a lot of places that were surprisingly not busy.
Hector Lake is the first lake you pass on Highway 93 (the Icefields Parkway) after you leave Lake Louise. You can see it from the highway when you drive past, but there’s no formal parking lot for the trailhead. Looking on my Gaia GPS app, I could actually see 3 trailheads for the lake that all connect along slightly different trails. They all have pull-outs where you can park and since they’re not popular, it’s not hard to find space.
Hector Lake was another hike on Kristine’s list of hikes she wanted to do this summer. After a noisy night at Preacher’s North Campsite, we packed up and drove to Nordegg to get breakfast and a slice of pie at the Miner’s Cafe, before starting the long drive back to Calgary. We planned to break up the drive with the hike to Hector Lake, which is a 5km round trip hike along mostly flat terrain.
The first part of the trail is a bit muddy, but fairly easy. You hike through the trees along a gentle downhill until you reach the Bow River. From here, my GPS showed two options, one continuing along the river and the second crossing the river. I could see the trail continuing on the other side of the river, but there is no bridge, so if you want to cross, be prepared to ford the river. It didn’t look very deep, but we hadn’t brought sandals with us, so we opted to continue along the river.
The trail along the river is a bit harder to follow and disappeared completely near the end. The river eventually turns into more of a delta and we lost the main trail, instead selecting our own path across the braided river channels. Depending on the water level, this could be a challenge and it was a bit muddy right before the foreshore, but we eventually managed to make it to the lake and had an uninterrupted view of the mountains.
It really is a very beautiful lake, but what made it more striking was that we were the only people there. We only saw two other groups on the trail while we visited, but we were alone while at the lake. It’s not a super well established trail, so I can understand why it’s not popular among tourists, who seem to favour Bow Lake and Peyto Lake. We had a nice snack and I went for a quick skinny dip in the lake to cool down. There were some beautiful wildflowers hanging around the river.
Overall, it took us just under two hours to do the full there and back again 5km hike, along with a break. Of the 3 hikes that I did during my short weekend trip to the Rockies, I think this one may have been my favourite because it was such an easy hike and it was so peaceful. The smoke was definitely rolling in while we were there, but it left the photos looking a pretty dreamy. It was a great trip to Banff National Park.
